Bunny, from District Seven
by PearlTenshiSerenity
Summary: No Summary, but thanks for checking it out!


_**District Seven's Sunshine**_

_Disclaimer; don't own Sailor Moon or Hunger Games or anything else I might someday put in this story._

_Warnings: pretty OCC (Out of character context or something.)_

'_Bunny Selene' flashed through my mind as the girl climbed down from her chariot. From District Seven, I remember. She's dressed much better than the outfits #9 usually wears. She's wearing a dress, its skirt brown, but it's torso a dazzling jade green. Her blond hair has streaks of silver and was in braids with strings of leaves entwined. She looks like an elegant tree and her hair is like sunlight streaming in through the leaves. Katniss grudgingly thought that she was quite beautiful._

_Her attention drifted away, back to the group surrounding them, gushing out compliments. Haymitch suddenly became very quiet. The rest of the group kept chattering on about the success of the flaming outfit but Katniss looked at the direction Haymitch was staring off into. It was the blond boy from District 2, Katniss' eyes widened. He projected brutality and confidence. He was staring at the boy and girl from District Seven. He caught her staring at him and smiled menacingly. Katniss flinched; he smiled wider and stalked off._

_Katniss watched him go with a sense of dread and then looked back at Bunny. She was laughing with her stylists and was positively radiant. Face shining brightly from the attention and applause even though Katniss and Peeta had stolen the show. For some reason that made her feel slightly bitter. _

_Bunny smiled brightly in what seemed to be Katniss' direction and she glanced around herself confusedly. A girl with dark brown hair walked up to Bunny, they were admiring each others outfits though Katniss didn't think the girls costume was any good. She realized belatedly that they must be making allies. Bunny was scared and petite and the other girl was scrawny and small. She didn't think they would be of much help to each other, though Bunny was healthy and fit; she seemed to have grown up with enough food. She watched as the small brunette disappeared and Bunny came walking towards them. Haymitch raised an eyebrow as she introduced herself. Effie gushed over her happily, thrilled to find a tribute with such impeccable manners._

"_I'm sorry if I am intruding." Bunny apologized right off the bat. 'She'll probably apologize to someone for them having to kill her,' I think._

"_No, it's quite alright." Effie started but Haymitch interrupted her._

"_Is there something you need?" Haymitch asked bluntly, staring at her suspiciously._

"_Well, yes." Bunny said guilt and embarrassment clouding over her sweetly delicate features. "Can I say something to Katniss real quickly, please?" She begged, her cheeks turning pink._

"_Sure." Katniss answered easily, before Haymitch could say anything. "What?" she asked-whispered as she turned around and faced the blond._

"_Can I borrow your cape? Please it's an emergency!" Bunny begged. Katniss blinked in confusion, she certainly had not expected that._

"_Why?" Katniss asked without thinking. Bunny shifted uncomfortably and then leaned in to whisper into Katniss' ear. Katniss' eyes widened as the girl told her and then turned ever so faintly pink, embarrassed she hadn't just given her the cloak, it didn't hold any value to her. I hurriedly slipped it over the girls head and I sprint back to my group. _

"_I've gotta go, I'll be right back." I say, but Haymitch doesn't let me just go._

"_Why?" he demands angrily._

"_I've gotta help Bunny with something." I say, knowing that Bunny would be mortified if I said anything to him about it._

"_Help her?!" Haymitch asks incredulously, I don't really blame him, why would __**I**__ help another tribute? I lean into Effie and tell her the situation. Her powdered and plucked eyebrows rise up and she immediately shoos me away to help Bunny._

"_What are you doing?" Haymitch growls at Effie._

"_Bunny has 'Feminine problems', Haymitch!" Effie says bluntly. I see out of the corner of my eyes Peeta turn red and Haymitch lapse into an embarrassed silence._

_I hurry Bunny into her apartment and find her clothes while she's in the bathroom. Her room is like mine, I note as I look around, same furniture styles but she has a dark blue and silver bed. Her screen, I notice is set on the night sky with thousands of stars and a shining moon. Her entire room, now I notice, is dark blues, white and silver, mirroring the night sky. How strange._

_I hand Bunny a plain whit shirt and blue jean skirt through the doorway, careful not to look. She comes out minutes later, with knee-length her hair in a single braid down the back. With her in it, she made the ordinary outfit dazzling. I push down the ugly feeling of jealousy._

_She thanks me profusely and sits me on her bed. She orders tea and cookies, which comes immediately and pours the tea just like Effie would, asks about my preferences when it comes to sugar cubes and cream and smiles at me the whole time. Her topic revolves around the weather, food and health. She is too polite, maybe even more than Effie and it rubs me the wrong way._

_This petite, fragile-looking girl, who has next to no chance of winning in the arena, is talking to me, rather one-sidedly, about the weather and drinking tea like a Capitalist. She looks as if one firm punch, by Rue even, would be the end of her._

"_And you, Katniss? Are you enjoying your stay in the capitol?" Bunny asks, head cocked, looking me in the eye, and I notice her eyes aren't just blue but have silver in them, like stars, like the screen._

"_No." I say harshly._

"_Oh." She says unfazed, and takes another dainty sip of tea. "Well I can see why. I suppose you're eager for the Games to begin."_

"_What? No!" I say, shocked. 'She thinks I'm one of the Careers!' "But how can you just sit there? Don't you realize in four days you'll be in the arena and, no offense, probably dead!" I ask, my voice rising quickly as I stand up from the bed and tower over her. She keeps her seat and simply bites into a sixth cookie._

"_Well, yes, of course." She says placidly and I slump back onto her bed in disbelief. "But I promised myself I wouldn't worry until tomorrow."_

"_Tomorrow?" I ask dumbly._

"_Tomorrow is the first day of training, so it seems a good time to start worrying, don't you agree?" I stare at her blankly; I've been worrying since I volunteered. She smiles at the look on my face. "I did not want to worry before tomorrow because than I won't be able to enjoy my last few days."_

_We stare at each other silently, and an understanding passes between us. She wishes me the best but is at peace, because she knows she'll die. The acceptance in Bunny's eyes hurt, to me anyway. To just give up on your life like that._

"_What about your family?" I ask, thinking of Prim. "You'll try not to die, won't you?" Her polite mask falters and then falls, leaving a frightened and alone 16 year old._

"_Well, I don't have any family." She says, "My mother died in the Hunger Games when I was two. My Father, well, I don't know where he is. He was a peacekeeper." She tries to shrug nonchalantly, but I can see the tears glittering in her strange eyes._

_I slowly ease myself off the bed and walk out of the room. I can't stay any longer. I can't feel sympathy for her because I might have to kill her and I don't want to kill someone who I feel sorry for. _

_Bunny has however brought up an excellent point; Tomorrow is the day to size up competition._

_I wake up, drowsy and incompetent of getting my eyes open. Sadly, unlike in books, I know exactly where I am. In the capitol with Ivy and little Firefly. And unfortunately_, Tootsie_._

_Tootsie is standing over me, her long wavy blue hair brushed and in a neat bun. It hurts me to see her in the morning, she reminds me of my friend Icicle, except Tootsie's hair is obviously dyed. Who I'll never see again and when I last saw her, was being dragged away from me, wailing. Not to mention today's my seventeenth birthday and usually all my friends would manage to have a small cake ready. Bittersweet memories._

"_Up!" Tootsie demands, wasting no time. I growl at her under my breath but she hears me anyway. "Don't you remember today's the first day of training? You can't be late!" Tootsie says loudly._

_I hide back under my covers. "All the more reason for me to stay in bed, yes?" I ask. She yanks my coverlets off and pulls me out the doorway and toward the dining room. I gape as we finally enter the dining room; the table is laden with all my favorite foods. Tears sting my eyes._

"_Come on, Sunshine." Ivy says, her unusual black-green hair in its usual bun, smiling at me as I gingerly approach the table, wondering if this is a dream. _

_Firefly's purple eyes light up as I sit down. "Happy Birthday, Bunny!" she cries, her jet-black hair swinging around her face. At only nine, she already shows remarkable intelligence. I smile back at Firefly._

_They stare at me expectantly as I stare at my plate full of food. Charlee hasn't eaten any either. I finally take a bite, and advice comes pouring out of Ivy and Tootsie. Everything I need to know for the next three training days, everything except for the advice I really want._

"_What about the Careers?" I ask finally, when they stop a moment to breathe. Tootsie looks at me and then at her food, elegantly rearranging her meal into a smiley face._

"_Don't make them angry." Ivy finally says, after a long silence, with only Firefly's happy mumbling to fill it. "Stay low, don't insult, and don't do anything that could draw their attention, negative or no. Hopefully you'll be forgotten, and with less chance of being killed in the initial bloodbath. Don't even think about talking to them, they would kill you here and now if it wasn't illegal."_

"_Alright." I say. There's not much more I can say. Then I smile as I remember the night before. "I think I made an Ally" I tell them. Tootsie stops eating her biscuit and looks at me, so does Ivy and Charlee._

"_Whom?" Tootsie asked._

"_The girl from District 10, her name's May, she's very nice." I say, looking at all of them hopefully. Ivy sighs._

"_Knowing you, she probably not strong, tall or anything you need in an ally, Bunny." Ivy said, exasperated._

"_Well, I don't have anything she would need in an ally either! Unless you count climbing trees." I say crossly. Ivy nods her head._

"_That's true, and I suppose its best to have any ally than none." Tootsie chimes in. I relax and enjoy the rest of the meal until Tootsie ruins it._

"_Well, you need to go get dressed. Go on, the Avox girl laid it out for you." Tootsie says. And I remember what today is. _Training Day_. I shiver but don the skintight black suit. I hate black and to make matters worse there are stripes of red, like blood. How distasteful, I wish my own designers had been able to pick out my outfit. I fish-braid my hair and wince again at my reflection in the mirror. Everything's bigger in a skin-tight suit._

_I hate the growing knot of dread that grows in my stomach. I can't speak through my fright and Charlee and I pass the short two minutes in the elevator in tense silence. The door opens and I see that I was late after all._

_All eyes on us, I resist the urge to stick my tongue out at all of them, only Ivy's good advice keeps me from doing it. Fear sweeps over me as I notice four Careers, they stand near deadly weapons. I remember their names from the TV but they look much fiercer now, in front of me. _

"_May?" I squeak without thinking. I immediately regret it. Their eyes which were half on me and half on their weapons are now entirely fastened on me. They're like vultures._

"_Bunny…" May says, she standing far to my right, it echoes in the silent room. I'm so relieved to see her; I run over and hug her tightly. She seems as relieved to see me as I am to see her, I notice she's at the campfire station._

"_Happy Birthday, Bunny." She whispers into my ear and I smile, glad to have a friend._

_Glimmer laughs as she watches the two girls hug and then start learning how to make a campfire together._

"_They have __**got**__ to be kidding." Clove scoffs, "Are they seriously going to team up?"_

"_Well, we'll have to change that, won't we?" Marvel smirks._

"_Oh, right. Look at them Marvel, they're no threat. We'll just be 'separating' them in the Arena anyway.'' Clove says, examining her daggers._

"_Hey guys, look!" Glimmer says, interrupting Marvel and Clove. They looked at where she was pointing. Bunny was talking to May, her male partner from District ten and the two from District 6. The whole pack frowned simultaneously. They all look pretty happy as Bunny talks. Marvel laughs at the expressions on the three other careers' face._

"_Birthday Party." Marvel says indifferently, picking a new spear from the rack and testing its weight._

"_How do you know?" Clove asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion._

"_Marvel can lip-read." Glimmer answered for him, leaning on her spear._

"_It's a party for that girl, Bunny, she turned seventeen today." Marvel said._

"_She doesn't look my age." Glimmer sneered in Bunny's direction._

"_Probably because she's so…" Clove searched for a word. "Innocent." She spat the word like it was poison._

"_A birthday party? And we weren't invited?" Cato spoke for the first time, smirking. "I'm hurt."_

"_We should go." Clove said, a slow smile crossing her face. "She would be __so__ disappointed if we don't." Glimmer didn't look like she wanted to but said nothing. Marvel grinned evilly at the idea._

_The careers turned back to their terrifying weapons not giving her another thought._

'_Bam!' the sound of body hitting cement echoed through the room. I whirl around along with all the other tributes. It's the boy from District 11, Thresh, enormously tall and strong. He fell off the net from high up, about twenty-five feet. I am already running towards him, and I drop to my knees beside him._

_I've never been able to stand any type of pain, from a splinter to a broken leg, but for me, other people's pain is worse. I cringe at the sight of his leg, it's unnaturally twisted backward and his left arm is already turning a sickly yellow color. The worst part is he's completely silent. He's alive, but the fact that he doesn't scream but just lays there is the worst thing. His face is contorted in pain. His partner from District Eleven is yelling "Thresh!" as she leans over him, his eyes momentarily slide up to look at her and then they look back at me._

"_He'll be paralyzed for sure." I hear someone mutter behind me and it infuriates me. I know why they're watching him, why they even bothered to come over was for a show at Thresh's expense. I whirl around angrily._

"_Everybody just step back!" I shout at them, it echoes through the empty room. The trainers, game makers and Peacekeeper's all disappeared a half an hour ago. I wish they were here for once, Thresh needs help. I don't want to use my healing 'skills', it leaves me drained. Plus, I'm frightened and extremely tired which will make it even more taxing. But I have to; I can't let him stay like this._

_I place my right hand gently over his heart and my left on his knee where the twist starts. I whisper to Thresh, "This might feel a little strange."_

_I close my eyes and think of Thresh's twisted leg, I concentrate on it and then picture the leg healing, righting itself. I gasp when I open my eyes, feeling dizzy and too light. Though my somewhat shaky vision I see Thresh's leg back to normal. I want to go to sleep but I hear the metal door open and then Peacekeepers appear with a stretcher and take Thresh away muttering about how lucky he was to only get bruised arm._

_I force myself to stand up just as the bell signaling lunch rings. All the tributes are staring at me, mouths gaped and eyes wide like fish. I forgot about them, I think dazedly. I turn pink at all the staring and run out, down the hallway and into the huge dining room with large shining table cloths. I sit on the farthest table, hidden in the shadows. I can't believe I did that. All chances of teaming up with May and Mari are gone. 'Don't draw attention to yourself…' rings in my head over and over again. Rule 1 of the Hunger Games: Freaks die early, no one wants to team up with them, and I'd tried so hard to be normal. _

_I stare at my plate of food miserably as I hear the tributes come in. They all sit as faraway as possible from me, even May. I grab a roll from the basket without looking and eat it, trying to find comfort in the familiar taste of my district. My plate is full and usually, I would eat it times two, but now my appetite has vanished and I can only force down some potatoes._

_My heads aching from the loss of energy to heal Thresh's leg. I need a drink, and not the wine they put on the tables. I walk as straight as I can to the refreshments, but standing makes it worse. I grab the largest glass of water I see and stagger back to my seat. Forget water, I need medicine. But I gulp down half of it. Then rest it back onto the table. I need to sleep. 'Yes, sleep is good.'_

_I push my plate back so there's room for my head and feel better immediately when I lay my head down. My head still hurts but it doesn't pound quite so loudly. I exhale in relief, though the table is rather hard. _

_Presences suddenly surround me; I jerk my head up as I feel weight settle on my bench. It's the Careers. I forget my headache as I look at Marvel. I stand up quickly and step over the bench desperate to get away. An arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back down to my seat._

"_And just where do you think you're going?" a masculine voice asks me from my right. I can't stop trembling._

"_I-I'm full." I say faintly._

"_You've only eaten your potatoes!" one of the girls across from me says laughing. "No wonder you're so small." I glance up and see its Glimmer, her blond hair perfectly curled even in a ponytail, cold green eyes focused on me. I look back down at my plate but figure out where the Careers are. Cato on my right, Marvel on my left Clove opposite Cato and Glimmer to her left facing Marvel. I'm stuck between the most dangerous tributes in the Games. _

_I'm tempted to try to leave again but I don't dare make them angry, Ivy would be proud. I take a bite of what looks like blue pea's, feeling the Careers bore holes into me with their staring. After I swallow, Glimmer breaks the silence._

"_So, is that silver in your hair and eyes real? Or did your designers do it?" Glimmer asks. It's a simple question, but for some impossible reasons I feel even more threatened than before._

"_It's real. " I choke out._

"_Strange…" she mutters. I gasp as a hand grasps my chin and pulls my head up; I stare at the hand which has a rough grip on me, too frightened to look at Cato. He tilts it as if for a better angle and I try to pull away, but he places another hand behind my neck, keeping me from escaping. It feels like a terrible collar._

"_Looks like she's shy!" Cato says and all the Careers laugh, enjoying my distress. I wish I could die._

"_She's sorta pretty!" Marvel announces, he reaches to grab me but I scoot back and almost fall off the bench, Cato's painful grip keeping me up._

"_Leave me alone." I whisper, staring at the tablecloth._

"_I think she just said something!" Marvel announces, he orders me, "Say it again."_

"_Please leave me alone…" I whimper, tears welling up in my eyes but I'm able to keep them from spilling over._

"_What, don't you like our company?" Cato asks, his grip on my chin becoming harder even though his tone is easy. I choke in fear as he tilts my head, trying to make me look at him._

"_Look at me!" He orders. "Look at me!" his hand leaves my chin and slaps my cheek, the sound echoing through the room. I tentatively raise my hand up to touch it, I wince. It's bad, there's probably a blood red handprint. I feel him getting ready to slap me again; I look up at him, tears in my eyes. He smiles and two tears trickle out and then a third though I try to hold them in._

"_That's better." He says, smiling triumphantly._

"_What do you want?" I ask my voice cracking. Cato releases his hold on my neck, but I know if I look back down, I'll get another slap._

"_We want several things but most importantly," He says leaning into me, I try to scramble away but bump into Marvel, who grabs me by the arms, allowing no escape. "How did you fix Thresh's leg?"_

"_People break their legs all the time in District seven." I whisper, trying to be noncommittal. I know why they're here now; they're going to kill me so I can't help other Tributes._

"_So you learned to have lights coming out of your hands in District Seven?" Marvel hisses in my ear. He twists my arm up behind my back with ease. The pain's intense, burning and aching. I scream as he twists harder. "I'd be honest if I were you, we __hate__ liars." The large dining area is deserted, no one helping me though I can't blame them. They're as frightened as me, and these are the __**Careers,**__ crossing them means certain death._

'_Wait a minute.' I think, behind the two massive oak doors, peeking through the cracks is the little girl from earlier, Thresh's partner. Another sharp twist sends me reeling, blinding me, all I can see is red._

"_I don't know how I did it; I've just always been able to do it!" I shriek, hoping Marvel will let go and end this agony but he doesn't. Cato considers me for a few tormenting minutes and then nods. Marvel releases me but I fall backwards, landing back in Marvel's arms. He laughs as I try to regain my sight. I shudder as he brushes a finger across my cheek. He leans in and I feel his breath against my ear. "You really are pretty."_

_My sight slowly comes back and I see Glimmer leaning over me with a glass of water, sneering, ready to dump it on me. Cato and Clove stand behind her smirking, I quake. I struggle to sit up and get as far away from Marvel as possible but my body refuses. It's exhausted from both using my 'Skills' and from all the pain they inflicted on me._

_But I can't become angry; my body just wants to melt. I droop like a wilted flower over Marvels arm. It's me against everything; Charlee even has been acting distant._

_I shiver at the cocky smile on Clove's face; she knows that I'm defenseless. She reaches toward me and I can't even try to slap her hand away. She grabs me by the waist and hauls me up and I see the knife she holds. Finally my body reacts as she pulls me off the bench. I collapse onto my knee's and somersault past the Careers. I try to stand rather shakily but instead go tumbling down on the carpet, passing out._

_I wake up to a vigorous rubbing on my face and then a splash of water. I gasp at the icy cold._

"_Oh thank goodness you're awake!" I hear a girlish voice exclaim. I slowly open my eyes and see the girl from 11 kneeling over me._

"_What happened?" I ask, my voice comes out scratchy and I'm aware of how dry my throat is._

"_Sh… Drink this.'' She tells me, I open my mouth obediently and she spills the water into my mouth, I drink the entire thing greedily, she watches me intently._

"_You fainted when you were trying to get away from Clove. Then they cut you and left." She says her little face serious._

"_Cut me?" I ask drowsily._

"_Yeah, I put some medicine and a covering on it though, so you probably won't feel it till tonight." She said. She pointed at my left ribcage. I look, there's wrapping but its turned red, stinking of blood. "Oh, I guess I need to change it. I didn't know it was bleeding so heavily. Take it off, please."_

_I gingerly peel it off and stare horrified at the ugly gash. It has the length of my index finger and is probably about as wide as my middle finger bleeding profusely. The little girl winces at the sight of it and I feel horrible for making her do such a horrible task. I grab a linen napkin from her, she must've took it off the tables and dip it in some water she brings me. I press the wet napkin against my skin and watch it soak up the blood like a sponge. She's right, I don't feel anything. _

"_What's your name?" I ask her, distracting myself as I apply napkin after napkin, even though I can't feel it, I don't want to see it._

"_Rue." She says. I smile at her as best I can._

"_I'm Bunny." I say. "How long have I been out?"_

"_Only a couple minutes, maybe 10 or 15." She says shrugging. I nod trying to puzzle it out. I hear Rue gasp and look at her, alarmed, thinking the careers are coming back. "I think it says something!" She cries pointing at my bloody mess. I look down at it horrified and sure enough there's a letter showing through the blood. A curlicue __**D**__**.**_

"_What does it say?" I ask, a knot of dread growing in my stomach. She grabs the napkin from me and leans forward and starts dabbing at it roughly, but I don't feel anything. She leans back a minute later her eyes wide as she stares at it._

"_D.1 and 2." She whispers. _

"_What?" I ask dumbly._

"_District 1 and 2." She says her brown eyes frightened. I gulp and unwittingly place my hand on it. _

"_Why would they do that?" I ask, Rue's the grownup now and I'm just the scared child._

"_They're Careers, it's what they do." A new voice says, I whirl around and see Katniss' mentor walking towards us. "Oh, calm down. I won't hurt you." He says as I and Rue back into a wall. I stiffen as he kneels down by me. I can smell the liquor on his breath. I can't trust him, Rue grabs my hand tightly._

"_Let's see that." He says, grabbing my bloodied napkin and then looking at the small pile we'd made. "Hm. They cut it unusually deep." He says, evaluating my wound._

"_What do you mean, unusually deep?" I ask my throat tight. "Careers do this often?" He looks at me grimly._

"_Whenever someone who's weak enough and insults them crosses their path. Though they have to get them alone. It's like branding, had to stop a while back since security was amped up, but it looks like it's started again." He finishes dabbing on alcohol and leans back on his haunches. "You put on medicine didn't you?" he asked Rue, she nodded silently; he sighed letting out another gust of spirited breath. "I don't know when that medicine is going to wear off but when it does, let's hope it doesn't hurt as much as it looks. Avoid the Careers, stay with somebody at all times. I don't know why I'm helping you, you're not my problem." He takes a swig of wine from the abandoned table. Then stands up and walks away, I'm afraid he'll slam into a wall, he's walking so tipsily. _

"_I'd better go," Rue says, looking at the clock, I see she's right, we're late. _

"_Thank You, Rue." I say to her, she smiles and hugs me. I blink but warmly return the hug. Then she's gone. I sigh and stand up, my legs are wobbly but I make it back into the Training Room. I straighten myself up and use my little bit of 'skill' and close the wound. I walk into the Training Area and then back towards the last stall I'd been at, learning to tie a knot. I focus on my task, not looking at anyone else. I finally master it and smile with relief. _

"_Bunny?" I hear a feminine voice say, I whirl around, feeling like I had a heart attack. Katniss has the grace to look embarrassed. "Are you ok?" I'm not sure why she's asking me, she seems to be the type that keeps to herself and doesn't care how others are. I nod hesitantly. "I was just wondering where you were, when you didn't come back. And Charlee didn't come back either." I look around the room noticing his absence, what happened? Where is he?_

"_Anyway I was thinking about it, and I… Oh for heavens sake, do you want to ally with me?" She asks obviously losing patience with herself. *Sweat drop* I think, that was blunt. Her offer held me stunned for a minute but then my mind went racing. With an ally I would stay alive longer and I could help more tributes._

"_Let me ask Charlee." I say, she blinks but nods and I realize she wasn't expecting him to be part of the deal. She grabs my wrist suddenly._

"_Wait a minute, The Careers are watching us. Let's go opposite ways and meet at the monkey bars." She says, I nod and obediently walk away, making a full circle around the room and meet back up with Katniss right as she climbs up the rings, ready to try her luck at it. I follow her up and watch her go across; she waves me over from the other side. _

_I grab one ring with my right hand; I gain confidence and grab the next ring. I'm halfway over when I hear a 'Rip!' from my arm as the wound tears back open and fall from the bars and onto the ground. I howl at the intense pain from the gash. 'Stupid, stupid!' I think. _

_I try to stand up but I fall back down; large hands grab me by the underarms and haul me up. It hurts horridly and I'm vaguely aware of someone calling my name. I see Rue looking at me, horrified and it gives me the energy to stand on my own. Someone's pushing me towards the door and I stumble out into the hallway, I look back and see it was a Peacekeeper; another Peacekeeper picks me up and brings me into the elevator. I cry, loads of tears blurring my vision even as he sets me on my bed. He covers me with blankets and feeds me something, I fall asleep painfully slowly._

I sit at the table, Effie and Haymitch bombarding us with questions about how the other tributes size up and I finally cut in when they stop for breath.

"I asked Bunny to be my ally." I tell them. Effie looks confused for a moment but then she remembers the parade incident and smiles. Haymitch frowns and takes another sip of alcohol.

"I don't think that's such a great idea, sweetheart." Haymitch says, annoying me.

"Do you know what happened to her, when she was carried out?" Peeta asks remembering her being carried out.

"I asked a peacekeeper, apparently an old wound opened up when she stretched it on the Bars." I answer; I notice Haymitch's hands tighten into fists, his face enraged.

"Oh." Peeta says and looks back down at his plate.

"An old **wound**?" Haymitch bellows. He stands up and slams the door to his bedroom closed. Peeta looks across the table at me, silently asking what's going on. I shrug and turn back to my food; I won't let Haymitch ruin a good meal for me.

"Is the Party canceled then?" Peeta asks after a few tense minutes.

"I suppose so." I answer, annoyed at both of them.

"Oh…" Peeta says looking back down at his food

_I wake up to the sight of Tootsie leaning over me, blue hair caught up in a bun. The pain in my arm is only a dull pounding compared to how it had felt before._

"_Oh, Bunny! Are you all right?" Tootsie clucked worriedly. I manage a nod. "Does it hurt?" she asks pointing at my arm, bandaged with a soft white cloth. I nod again. She clucks worriedly as she helps me get up per my request to go to dinner._

_Ivy is sitting at the table, I look around for Charlee but he's nowhere to be seen. I keep telling her I'm fine but Tootsie insists on helping me sit down. I roll my eyes at Ivy across the table but she doesn't smile. Something's wrong, I know immediately. Did they find out about the Careers? I hope so._

"_Bunny." Ivy said clearing her throat. "I-I'm sorry but, Charlee was called back to his district. Max will be here in a minute, He's the one who volunteered to take Charlee's place." She looks at me, her strange red eyes clouding with sorrow and sympathy… for me. I stare at my plate, tears filling my eyes immediately. 'Your crazy, Bunny. Now he doesn't have to kill you and Icicle gets her brother back.' I wipe my eyes with my sleeves but Tootsie doesn't criticize for once, she just stands there, ringing her smooth hands with their blue nail polish. The hands that never knew work. I splay out my own hands and look at them closely. I didn't work much either but I did. Me and Firefly. Though Firefly is Ivy's daughter, she didn't need to work. And me? Well, Lupine wouldn't let me and Aquilegia agreed, they were too protective. But I still managed to sneak out, especially during the cold season when our tall beautiful tree's had to be cut for the warmth of the Capitol._

_I finally look up at Ivy then Tootsie; they seem to be waiting for me to say something. I want to just sob, but I can't, something's restraining me so I nod at them and look back down at the table. The heavy silence is broken by Firefly running into the room with another boy. Black hair, brown eyes, copper skin. Max, I realize._

"_A pleasure to make your acquaintance Maxwell." Tootsie says standing. I stand also and hesitantly look him in the eyes. Tootsie jabs me and I frown at her fiercely._

"_It is nice to meet you." I say to him, looking away._

"_Likewise, Bunny." He says; his tone formal and devoid of emotion. I look back at him and accept the fact that he will not be allying with me like Charlee. I don't offer for him to call me Bunny and he doesn't suggest I call him Max. We all sit back down awkwardly. "Happy Birthday." He says after a stiff silence. I look up in surprise; I'd forgotten it was my birthday. 'The Party, I think, it's canceled then.' I can't help but be disappointed; I was looking forward to it._

"_Yes, Seventeen is a most important year, after 18 and 21 that is." Tootsie chirps trying to lift the gloomy atmosphere. I roll my eyes at my glass of chocolate milk and to my surprise Maxwell chokes on his water, almost laughing. I smile back down at my plate; he's not half-bad._

_The uncomfortable dinner finally ends and Maxwell disappears into his room. I try to stand and it seems alright, I roll my shoulders and still no pain. I look back at Tootsie and remember how I got this. I look at Ivy whose busy trying to get her purse back from Firefly, who's running around the room, giggling madly. Should I tell them? What could they really do? And wouldn't they already know? 'Katniss…' I think, 'She'd know what to do.'_

"_Tootsie? May I go see my friends?" I ask her sweetly, she nods, not looking up from her tablet. I smile and sneak out of the room and walk carefully down the hallway, I definitely don't want to experience the pain of reopening flesh again._

_After what seems to be an eternity of waiting for the unaccommodating elevator doors to open, I step in, leaning against the soft carpet wall tiredly, the Elevator is the size of a house. It could fit twenty people and it's all wrong. The sides are covered with carpet but the floor is medal. I click Level 12 and wait; I watch the sign showing what level we're at, alarm filling me as we go right past 12. 'Is it broken?!' I think fearfully. I don't want to be stuck in an elevator!_

_The elevator slows and then dings. Level two. 'Two!' I think horror-struck. The door slowly opens and I'm face to face with four careers. I scream as loudly as I can with my throat closing in fear. A rough hand clamps onto my mouth._

"_Sh…" I hear Marvel whisper gently even as he snatches my arms so I can't run out the slowly shutting door. I kick him hard and he releases me. I run toward the door desperately, forgetting my rib. The door shuts at the same moment someone tackles me to the ground, pinning my arms down with girlish hands and wrapping her legs around my lower limbs so I can't escape. I try to punch her but she tightens her hold on my arms._

_It's Clove, raven-colored hair in two neat braids and a sadistic smile on her face, dark brown eyes leering at me. She is definitely the scariest Career. I stare at her wide eyed, feeling like a caught deer. I'm just blood sport to her. I close my eyes tightly, praying it will be quick but all I hear is laughter. I cautiously crack my eyes open and see Glimmer laughing at the irritated Marvel._

"_I didn't expect her to fight back; it was surprise that made me let her go. Stop laughing Glimmer!" Marvel bellowed and her laughter gradually subsided._

"_Tsk tsk. Clove could catch her but you couldn't." Glimmer said a smile still on her face. I decide to make an escape while their making fun of Marvel. There's a scarlet button on the panel along with the Level buttons for emergencies. This is definitely an emergency. I dart out only slightly from beneath Clove before she slams me back into the floor. I groan from the impact of my head hitting steel._

"_And just where do you think your going? Hmm?" Clove asks, mimicking what Cato said in the Dining Room at lunch. "We're not nearly done playing with you." She whispered viciously._

"_Stop scaring her Clove." Cato said, sounding amused. I grimace as his face comes into view; he seems to always be smirking. "What we really want to know is why you were talking to that District Twelve girl." Cato asks, looming over me. I try to wriggle out from under Clove, wanting to get away from these two but Clove still has me firmly in her hold._

"_Let me go!" I cry at them. Clove leans forward and pinches the back of my neck. I frantically try to inhale as I suffocate but nothing comes in. She grins as I smother under her; yellow dots invade my vision as my leg feels a painful prick and gather together. She finally let's go right before I could've lapsed into blessed unconsciousness. I roll my head over, gasping loudly, feeling like I'm about to throw up._

"_Not pleasant, is it? Learned that one when I was ten." Clove said, smiling proudly._

"_That's sick." I manage to say between gasps. Her eyes actually narrow at me, it seems I've struck a nerve._

"_I think she's going to hurl." Glimmer voiced her opinion. _

"_That's why you shouldn't think." Clove answered nastily. I hear Glimmer somewhere to my left mutter angrily to someone else, probably Marvel. My breathing steadied I try to see where everyone is. _

_Clove is still holding me down and I see Marvel and Glimmer leaning against a wall. A sudden thought occurs to me that causes me to look over to the screen that shows what level you're at. We're still at two. How is that possible? I hear Clove start chuckling and I look back up at her._

"_Did you really think we would just be in here and get caught? We're not as brainless as you. But if you want, we'll get out of here." She says and with that gets off of me and presses the green open button. I blink in shock, are they going to let go of me? Hope fills my chest to see tomorrow's dawn. But why can't I stand up?_

"_Nope." She says sensing my thoughts. She grabs me by the wrists and drags me out. Marvel and Glimmer follow us out. _

"_Where'd Cato go?" Glimmer asked._

"_He's getting something." Marvel answered. I tense, getting something? To my shock, Clove grabs me by the waist and hoists me onto her shoulder. I let out a surprised scream and my mouth is suddenly filled with handkerchief. I don't understand anything, I hang limply over Clove's shoulder, I can't even feel my legs or arms. How can she even carry me? Clove grunts in frustration as my arm slides down and hit's her. She grabs it and pushes it back._

"_Your stuff was too strong!" I hear her yell at someone._

"_Hey you're the one who wanted to use it, don't blame me!" I hear Glimmer respond angrily. What stuff? I remember the prick I felt, is that why I can't feel anything? I try to think about it but it just hurts my head. I sigh and close my eyes, suddenly exhausted. Too much thinking._

_I can't fall asleep though so I'm forced to feel my head hit over and over into Clove's back as she walks. The handkerchief tastes dry and is quickly sucking out the moisture from my mouth. And it smells strongly of Glimmer's lavender perfume, though that's better than sweat. My eyes won't shut either so my view is Marvel, grinning at me. We pass through a dining room and a living room but I can't force myself to be frightened. I just feel like… blah. Suddenly we're in a red room, but I can't see anything except the hallway behind us._

"_You look just like a hunter coming back with a deer, Clove." I hear a laughing male voice say._

"_You were supposed to come back and get her, Cato." Clove said irately. I sigh as my head hits her back for the thirtieth time, managing to finally close my eyes._

"_The deer's alive then?" I hear the same voice ask._

"_Yep." Marvel answers before Clove. "Barely though, her eyes aren't focused at all, I don't know if she's even conscious."_

"_Let me see." A female voice says. "Put her on the bed Clove." Clove walks again and I close my eyes as my head starts slamming into her backbone again. Then Clove lifts me off and places me on a soft fluffy bed. I sink into it and almost smile at the heavenly feeling. I could die like this and be happy. Fingers grab my eyelids and painfully open them._

"_Mm." I say in protest._

_A lady who's all sharp features stares at me critically. She's fiercely pretty, I think vaguely. I want to close my eyes but I can't. She takes the handkerchief from my mouth and I breathe in the fresh air gratefully. _

"_Ready to die?" she asks me._

"_No pie." I mutter, and she lets me close my eyes. I sigh in relief._

"_Yeah, she's really out of it." She tells someone but I don't care about anything except the bed and lovely pillow. I want to hug the pillow but my arms still won't work. "She'd be no fun to kill right now."_

"_We're not planning on killing her, yet anyway." Cato said to their female Victor Mentor, Nettle. _

"_Hmm…" Joe says frowning, their other Mentor._

"_She's really lightweight." Clove said, "Though it was annoying that she kept hitting my back."_

"_What did you use, Clove?" Nettle asked curiously._

"_Glimmer had some poison on her ring, it's meant to paralyze a person, but not that much." Clove huffed._

"_She's just susceptible to poisons; she wasn't trained like you all." Joe answered, taking another puff of his cigarette. "Pretty little thing." Cato caught himself growling under his breath at his mentor._

"_So what do we do now?" Glimmer asked._

"_If you could be quiet a minute I could think, Glimmer!" Cato said annoyed._

"_What are you having troubles with?" Nettle asked._

"_We need to find out something from her and then somehow manage to sneak her back into her room." Marvel answered frowning at the nuisance of a girl. "And she probably will have to be unconscious otherwise who knows what'll happen."_

"_You're positive." Glimmer muttered from her place by the mirror, reapplying her lip-gloss. Clove wasn't listening to anyone. She reached her hand toward a golden shine coming from just beneath Bunny's shirt. She pulled out a small golden star strung on a piece of pale withered pink string. Clove saw a little latch with a key hole. She tried to pry it open but to no avail. With a frustrated grunt she put the locket back, hiding it carefully back under the shirt._

"_Oh joy." Glimmer said sarcastically and Clove noticed that their mentors had disappeared. Clove knew she'd missed something but didn't ask._

"_How long does this stuff take to wear off Glimmer?" Cato asks._

"_A couple hours for the amount Clove put in." Glimmer answered._

"_Well, we'll just have to do something else till then." Cato said. Clove perked up immediately. "No Clove." Cato said, reading her mind. "Not today, if you're good, maybe tomorrow. Only one a day, she's still recovering from your first one. We can't rub it in the Peacekeeper's faces." _

"_It was good." Clove said defensively. No one insulted her Engravings if they valued their lives._

"_It was great. But no more tonight." Cato kissed her forehead and walked out. Clove growled but didn't pull out Willow, her favorite knife. She leaned forward and looked at her Creation, '__**D. 1 and 2'**__**. **__That was all they'd let her put but it was excellently done. Neat and beautiful. It had helped that she wasn't conscious. Nobody could do it as well as her. Skin would sag and droop and other horrible things to ruin it if not done by a skilled hand, like her._

_She let out a frustrated sigh at Cato's uncooperativeness. She just wanted to etch a small thing. A flower maybe? If it was girly would Cato let her? Clove stood with reluctance turned off the light and walked out of the room planning her next engraving._

"_Pleh." I mutter, waking up. A horrible taste of linen is in my mouth, I stand up sleepily, hoping I hadn't been chewing on my blanket. What Tootsie would say! I totter to the door and walk down the hallway following the sounds of a movie, barely awake but I'm not going to let Charlee, Ivy and Tootsie watch another movie without me. They'd treated me like Firefly and sent me to bed last night._

_I come into the living room and the screen on the wall is so bright I have to close my eyes. I crack my eyes open a sliver and teeter to the outline of the couch and collapse onto it, dizzy. I lean into Charlee and yawn, going back to sleep. _

'_Bunny?" Cato said surprised. He tried to push her off but Bunny just dropped back, clinging tightly to his hand._

"_Stop it Charlee." She mutters. Glimmer, on his right, holds her hand over her mouth, laughing as quietly as she could along with Marvel. Clove grins at the whole scene._

"_Yeah, stop it Charlee." Glimmer laughs out loud when she's certain the small District Seven girl is asleep. Marvel joins her and Clove continues smiling while turning the lamp on to see better._

_Cato tried to get his arm out of her grasp but for such a small girl she had a tight grip. Her little fingers clung desperately to his forearm. Her delicate wrist looking as if it could easily snap off. Cato sighed loudly for the benefit of the other Careers but found he didn't mind._

"_She thinks you're that kid!" Glimmer Exclaimed, thinking it was hilarious. "I bet you she likes that guy or something." Clove noticed the subtle hardening of Cato's jaw. Hm._

"_Surely their not that idiotic." Marvel laughed. Glimmer frowned and turned away, glaring at the reflection of Marvel's head in the mirror. _

"_Well, the stuffs wearing off faster then you said Glimmer." Clove spoke. _

"_It's weird. She was really susceptible to it, yet she's woken up earlier than anyone else, in history probably." Glimmer said frowning at the girl who had caused her such problems._

"_She went back to sleep." Marvel pointed out._

"_This could put a man into a coma." Glimmer answered. "Never to wake, if you give enough, I don't have enough. You'd need double this amount_

"_Well, what do we do with her?" Marvel asks._

"_Just leave her." Glimmer says, plopping back onto the couch. "She's not worth the trouble." The movie continued on, playing the recaps of last year's Games. Marvel turned off the light and sat by Glimmer. Clove saw her opening; she quietly slid into the spot by the unconscious girl. After a half hour of careful maneuvering Clove had her reward. The rest of the Careers were watching the deaths of all twenty three tributes from the seventy-third Hunger Games and didn't notice her at all._

_Clove half listened to her friends' conversation but she was mainly focused on the project in front of her. A flower partly bloomed on the underside of Bunny's forearm; she'd finished the middle and hardest part and was just finishing up the outer petals which had to curve just so to look like it was really opening. Then she has to add the small details in the middle, the pollen and the small antennae things._

"_Clove!" Clove winced, she'd been caught. "What are you doing?!" _

"_A flower." Clove answered showing Cato the nearly finished project._

"_I told you no!" Cato growled, Clove pouted._

"_You said tomorrow. And look, it's one o'clock." Clove said, pulling the arm away before Cato could steal it back from her._

14


End file.
